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Religion

The predominant religions in Fier include Christian Orthodox, Catholicism and Islam. They exist and operate in full harmony with each other.

Christianity in the Fier Region began in the time of the first Apostles’ preachings. The existence of the Christian community began when Neron was the emperor, year 58 B.C. The Christian community was situated along Ilirikium’s coastline, developing only later in the inland. Christianity started with the temporary activity of Saint Pavle in the first century. After the year 313 A.D, Saint Costandin legalized Christianity as the official religion of the empire and important monuments of cult were built in various dominant places across the Fier region (until 1923, the Fier region had 57 churches and medieval convents), which represent unchangeable heritage up to today. In 1054 A.D, after the separation of the East Church from the discipline and the hierarchy of the Roma Church, this region passed under the Orthodox Church.

The Saint George Church, the only Christian Orthodox church in Fier today, was built in 1782. It used to be the largest church in the whole Myzeqe area. It was decorated with artistic frescos painted by the famous painter Joan Cetiri from Grabova. The church had three Baptisteries and three Porticos. Its walls were built with carved stones by the most skillful masters of the time. It was demolished in 1967 when the communist government banned religious worship. Later, a new Orthodox church was built at the same site in 2000.

Fier city has a relatively new tradition of Catholicism. The previous church was destroyed due to an anti-religious “storm” in 1966. Its construction re-started in 1993 and was completed on 25th of March 1995. The Catholic church is located in the eastern part of the city.

The existence of the Islam religion in the Fier region is strongly related to the beginning of Ottoman occupation. The intensive policies of the Ottoman regime, interwoven with strong economic favors and various privileges for those who took up Islam, created optimal conditions for conversions. The first Mosque in Fier city was built in 1914, in the garden of today’s Bar Rinia, on the initiative of Haxhi Qamili. After the foundation of the Albanian Muslim community, in 1923, Fier’s religious community was organized under the Myftie rank. At the end of the 1990s the movement for restoration of the Islam religion and its institutions came up. The city’s Mosque is situated in the Fier city center. It has one of the largest domes in Europe, and its minarets have a height of 51 meters. It has two floors, and it can hold up to 2000 people.